Power

As the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign closed the books on its first month of operations, campaign manager Robby Mook emailed supporters with a rather remarkable claim: Hillary Clinton "didn't have a lot of the usual resources that other candidates might have" to launch a campaign. Tellingly, Mook provided only two examples to back up his assertion: "No big email list" and not even a Facebook page (!) in place until 30 days ago. Here's how the email begins:

Friend --

In the last month, we've gone from zero to 100.

I mean that (almost) literally: When we launched this campaign, we didn't have a lot of the usual resources that other candidates might have. No big email list or anything like that -- up until 30 days ago, Hillary didn't even have a Facebook page!

A previous presidential campaign in 2008 under her belt with all the contacts, experience, and networks that go with it.

Despite Mook's statement that the Clinton campaign has "no big email list", Time reported in January 2014 that the super-PAC "Ready for Hillary" had rented Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign email list, after which the PAC reported its "biggest online fundraising day in @ReadyForHillary history!"

During the two years before her announcement, the Ready for Hillary super-PAC pushed Mrs. Clinton to enter the race. According to the PAC's website, they acquired "over 4 million identified supporters and more than 135,000 donors, who have made over 215,000 separate contributions. We have raised over $15 million and received more than 55,000 contributions of the symbolic $20.16. Ready for Hillary has held over 1,300 events in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and with Democrats Abroad in 5 different countries. This movement has also received the backing of hundreds of elected officials all across the country." (The PAC, of course, cannot coordinate with Mrs. Clinton's actual campaign organization now that she has declared.)

A stint as secretary of state, arguably the highest profile position in the federal government after the president, from 2009-2013.

Her time as a high-profile senator from New York from 2000-2009.

Mrs. Clinton was first lady from 1992-2000.

Mrs. Clinton's husband served as president of the United States from 1992-2000.

Bill Clinton, according to the Washington Post, gave 542 speeches all over the world, earning $104.9 million in just the first twelve years after leaving office, potentially opening a vast network of donors and contacts for his wife.

Mrs. Clinton herself made millions of dollars on dozens of speeches herself after leaving her position as secretary of state, per a Politico report, again providing tremendous publicity and contacts.

The New York Timesreported in April that the Clinton campaign may spend up to $2.5 billion on the 2016 campaign.

All things considered, Mrs. Clinton may actually have more resources at her disposal than any candidate for president in U.S. history, Mook's assessment notwithstanding. It remains to be seen if that will be enough to win her the Democratic nomination that eluded her in 2008 and beyond that, the White House itself.Here's the entire text of the email from campaign manager Robby Mook:

Here's video, via Fox News, of the power outage at the State Department today:

The power went out in the middle of the State Department briefing.

Fox reported that there are widespread outages across Washington, D.C., including at the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, the White House, the Capitol, and of course the State Department. Some Metro stations have also lost power.

Bret Stephens is the Wall Street Journal’s Pulitzer Prize winning foreign affairs columnist. He is also author of a new book, America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming World Disorder, detailing the Obama administration’s foreign policy blunders. Recently I spoke with Stephens about his book, how this White House has caused trouble for America abroad, and if there’s hope on the horizon.

Calls it a "fact."

The White House has argued that President Obama's executive amnesty order last week was made well within the existing law. But in remarks in Chicago tonight, President Obama went off script and admitted that in fact he unilaterally made changes to the law.

President Obama made the admission after getting heckled for several minutes by immigration protesters.

“All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are…of fatal tendency. …

Asked the MSNBC host, "What's your response to the Washington Post editorial that said that the president's frustration with Congress 'doesn't grant the president license to tear up the constitution'?"

Two and a half years ago, President Obama tired of the Senate's refusal to confirm several of his nominations. Dissatisfied with the Constitution's general requirement that the president make appointments only after receiving the Senate's "advice and consent," he chose a more direct route.